After teaching His disciples to pray, Jesus told the Parable of the Persistent Friend to illustrate perseverance in prayer. A host, bound by custom to feed a late-arriving guest, repeatedly knocked at a sleeping friend's door until that friend, though reluctant, granted the request. This shameless persistence, free from bashfulness, teaches that knocking once is not enough. Jesus urged His followers to keep asking, seeking, and knocking, approaching humbly and aligning requests with a higher will. Unlike the reluctant friend, God gives abundantly and willingly, meeting persistent prayer with generosity and love rather than annoyance. This parable encourages diligent, patient, and long-suffering prayer, trusting that God answers in His time, not ours. Also see sermons and articles about Parable of the Persistent Friend.

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  • Luke 11:5-13
    And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
     


Related Scriptures

  • Hebrews 11:6
    But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
     
  • James 4:3
    You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
     
  • James 1:5-7
    If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;